It was about 5:45 p.m. on a friday evening as I drove my car a few blocks away from the food bank and parked it ambiguously. I hadn’t showered for two days and had about 5 days of facial hair growth as I stepped out onto the street and made my way towards the Salvation Army’s shelter. I was wearing my work clothes and felt nervous inside with questions in my mind about how the experience would play out. Never before had I put myself in a situation where I was on the receiving end of being homeless. I had always been the one giving help. As I walked up to the building, a man laying on the ground with a read face and reeking of alcohol starred me down. I asked him where I could get some food to eat and he pointed around the alleyway where there were more people who looked similar to him. I thanked him and started walking towards the alleyway.
For one of my Masters Degree courses in managing diversity, our professor asked us to put ourselves in a situation that challenged our world view. I’ve been pretty fortunate throughout my life with the blessings of knowing God and having a supportive family, and feel that although I’ve had challenges, I have never had to deal with homelessness. After discussing my idea with my professor, he thought it would be a good idea to expose myself to the homeless culture. Originally, I was going to go there and just ask them questions about their situation, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt it would be a better experience for me to be one with them instead. As I approached the alley, I prayed in my heart that I would be led by the Lord and learn a lesson that He would have me learn.
The alley was lined with people who had dreadlocks, dingy clothes, tons of piercings, and down-trodden faces. Some didn’t look so bad, while others clearly had been living a rough life in many ways. I walked through the crowd and asked for help in where to go. The first gentleman just starred at me and turned his head but then I saw one of the Salvation Army workers who told me to go into a certain door.
As I entered the door, I saw a plate and people lined up to dish up some spaghetti and salad. I thanked them as they dished me up and turned to see where I should sit. There were groups of people at tables and also a few lonely individuals at tables throughout the room. As I scanned the surroundings, a young man with long hair in a ponytail with his head down caught my eye and I walked over to him and sat down in front of him.
“Can I sit here?” I asked.
There was no response, so I took that as a yes and sat down wondering if I would get a conversation in.
I took a few bites of food and then asked “So do you come here often?”
Then the young man looked up at me and said “Sometimes. Do you have a place to stay?”
I hadn’t thought about what my story would be so I thought quickly and told him I bounced around to friends houses. Then I asked him if he had a place to stay. He told me he did, but that he had lost his job as a professional musician when the studio went under. He also told me that his wife had just left him as well. However, he said that he had faith things would work out. I was intrigued with his optimism and asked him why he felt things would work out.
He proceeded to share his testimony of Jesus Christ with me and the hope he had in his heart. He told me of how earlier in his life he was addicted to drugs and alcohol but that through a miraculous prayer, he was healed of his addictions and became a follower of Jesus. He then started telling me that if I had hope and faith things would work out for me as well. He started sharing some inspirational scriptures from the Bible with me and I felt very moved as he reached out to me even though he was in such bad circumstances.
When he told me that he was not on unemployment and that he didn’t have enough money for rent I asked him how he planned on paying. He looked at me with confidence and said “God is faithful. He will provide. He always does.”
I was touched as I thought about all that I have been blessed with financially and the beautiful little family that I have. I realized as I spoke with this young man that it could be taken away anytime and that essentially everything I have is not mine, but a Gods that He is loaning to me. In this instant, I then thought about this young man and an idea came to my mind.
“How much money do you have saved up for this month’s rent?” I asked him.
“None.” he replied.
“Would a couple hundred dollars help you?” I asked
“Oh. Yes!” He said. “I’m not sure where I’d get it, but I could definitely use it.”
I then asked him where the nearest bank was and he said two blocks up the road.
I looked at him and said “You have a very good heart and the Spirit of the Lord is with you. I feel that God has led me to give you some money to help out. Let’s go to the bank and I’ll get you a couple hundred dollars.”
His mouth hit the floor and he said “You’d better not be messin’ with me man!”
I assured him I wasn’t.
As we walked to the bank I told him I had dressed up as a homeless guy to try to see things through different lenses then I am accustomed to. I told him I have a good job and a beautiful wife and little daughter. He was very amazed that I would do that. As I withdrew the money and handed it to him, he lit up and was so grateful. He asked me if he could pray for me and of course I told him he could.
When he prayed for me, I felt such love and charity coming from his heart. Not once did he pray for himself, but he prayed for me, my job, my wife and daughter. He thanked God for answering his prayers that somehow he could find means to pay his rent. He also prayed for his wife who had recently left him that she would get healed from alcoholism and find faith. He thanked God for Jesus and faith. I felt up-lifted and renewed from his prayer and as he finished I asked him if I could pray for him as well and I did.
After we prayed together, I gave him contact information for the LDS employment services location that was right next to where he lived. We walked to his house and he gave me some of his business cards he had made in case I came across anyone who needed guitar lessons.
As we parted ways, I had a silent prayer in my heart for him that he would find the answers to his prayers and with the faith that he has, I’m sure he will.
When I stepped into my car I reflected on the feelings of nervousness that I had originally felt and how I felt now. It is amazing how God can replace fear with faith and I was once again reminded of how God “doesn’t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely.” (Uchtdorf, 2009)
22 comments
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May 16, 2010 at 7:03 pm
rick@rickety
What an amazing story. Thanks for sharing it.
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May 16, 2010 at 11:24 pm
Amy
That’s so awesome! What a great reminder that we are all sons and daughters of a Heavenly Father who loves us no matter our circumstances. That guy’s faith is truly inspirational. And you have such a generous heart! Thanks for posting this!
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May 17, 2010 at 4:17 am
Brad
Wow! What an amazing story man… It’s your willingness to learn and openness to others point of views that make you such a wonderful person to be friends with man. 🙂
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May 19, 2010 at 5:01 am
ama49
Hey Brad,
Thanks for stopping by and for the kind words!
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May 17, 2010 at 5:21 pm
Neal
Thank you Aaron…that last quote along with your story really hit home.
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May 18, 2010 at 1:14 am
Dad
That was an amazing and inspirational idea and story. I have to speak at Duty to God Camp and I plan to use your experience as the main focus of my talk. What an awesome, Christlike idea. What a way to bless the lives of so many of us. Thanks for the person you are.
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May 19, 2010 at 5:00 am
ama49
Thanks Dad!
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May 18, 2010 at 2:30 am
Jared
Thanks for sharing this experience. It tells us the faithful can be found anywhere.
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May 18, 2010 at 2:58 am
Bookslinger
Somtimes, when you decide to go out into new territory and just play it by ear, the Lord can open up unimaginable opportunities.
That’s the kind of thing the sons of Mosiah did on their missionary journey into Lamanite-land. They didn’t know exactly what they’d do or what would happen, just that they wanted to do some good and seek opportunities, and make themselves available for whatever the Lord wanted them to do.
And like them, you didn’t have a trainer (senior companion) to show you how its done. A trainer is good, but can also be limiting if you think that you are only allowed to do the things you’ve been trained to do.
So congrats on being a trail-blazer.
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May 19, 2010 at 4:59 am
ama49
Hey Bookslinger,
Thanks for the compliments. It means a lot coming from you as you are an inspiration to us with your stories of sharing the Book of Mormon as you do.
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May 18, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Mike
Thanks for this great story of both of your love for God and his ability to comfort us when all seems lost and guiding you to this lesson in humility,I’m talking this Sunday at church for my sons farewell and plan on using this in that talk,thanks for sharing.
Is there anyway this can be printed?
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May 19, 2010 at 4:57 am
ama49
Hi Mike,
Thanks for stopping by. You surely can print this if you feel it will help someone. Let me know how the experience goes for you if you are printing it to share with someone. I’d love to hear if it helped someone.
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May 18, 2010 at 7:18 pm
Olive
I have to admit, I think this is kind of odd, and almost, cruel somehow. Pretending to be homeless? It just rubs me wrong. I don’t know. Almost mocking or something.
And while I’m sure the $100 helped me get some food, clothing, etc…I don’t think it would do anything about his situation for rent.
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May 19, 2010 at 4:56 am
ama49
Hi Olive,
I’m glad you shared your thoughts rather than thinking those thoughts and not addressing them.
My intention was to become one with the culture and experience it first hand. The way I felt about it, that was better than just going up to a homeless guy and interviewing him, which in my opinion would have been as you describe…mocking almost. I feel that if I were to learn how to have empathy in some respect, actually being homeless for awhile, although not even close to the real thing, at least gave me more of a taste of what it must be like.
What would you have done to learn more about the culture?
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May 19, 2010 at 5:07 am
ama49
Hi Olive,
One more thing I thought of regarding your comments about the money.
I feel that the Lord guided me to give him some money. We all know that everything we have isn’t really ours anyways. It belongs to God. Therefore, if he tells me to give a guy a couple hundred dollars, I’m going to do it and not worry about what the guy will do with it. If he uses it for rent, that’s great. If not, I pray he uses it to bless himself or someone else.
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May 19, 2010 at 2:52 am
Doug
You reminded us that God has a special place in his heart for the hurting. If we are to reflect him, we should do the same. Thanks for being the hands of the Master to this man.
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May 19, 2010 at 8:55 am
Selwyn
What an experience, thanks for sharing.
It’s amazing how the outside is rarely indicative of the inside – who would have guessed what that man would have said to you before you sat down, or how you both affected each other?
It reminds me of something that happened recently here in Australia that’s similar (though without the strong faith sharing!), with Sir Ian McKellen : http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/sir-ian-mckellen-is-mistaken-for-a-tramp-on-a-melbourne-bench-between-waiting-for-godot-rehearsals/story-e6frf96f-1225863693015 .
Again, thanks for sharing.
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May 20, 2010 at 12:42 am
ama49
Hi Selwyn,
Thanks for stopping by clear from Australia and also thanks for the link to the story. Stop by anytime.
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May 22, 2010 at 3:41 pm
sethadamsmith
Great story! Thanks for sharing it!
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May 24, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Curtis
That was a great experience. I think we all often wonder about what it might be like to put ourselves in others shoes, but I am most always to scared or to comfortable to do it.
This is a great example on how we can learn what others feel and by doing that we might empathize just a little more and have more of an inclination to help.
Thanks for sharing.
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January 2, 2011 at 5:16 am
graceforgrace 2010 Year in Review « Grace for Grace
[…] One of the most memorable events that brought me closer to God this year was my experience of dressing as a homeless person. I shared the story back in May on the post called “Lessons Learned from My Experience Dressing as A Homeless Man.” […]
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November 27, 2013 at 2:45 pm
Mormon Bishop Disguises himself as Homeless Man | Grace for Grace
[…] A few years ago, I wrote about an experience I had as I dressed up as a homeless man in an article called “Lessons Learned from My Experience Dressing as a Homeless Man“. […]
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